


Nobody Wants to Come Back to Jakku

by INMH



Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2019 [47]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blood, F/M, Friendship, Head Injury, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Ship Teasing, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: Sequel to ‘Nobody Comes to Jakku’. AU. Becoming a smuggler wasn’t, perhaps, in the top ten of the best decisions Rey’s ever made in her life.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2019 [47]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1377172
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Nobody Wants to Come Back to Jakku

“Hold _still!_ ”  
  
“I’m _trying!_ ”  
  
It was, perhaps, a bit much to expect Ben to be able to hold still while the _Falcon_ was still rocking back and forth. Rey grabbed the doorframe to steady herself and stuck her head out into the hallway. “ _Han!_ For the love of God, keep her steady! I’m trying to stop your son from bleeding out back here!” When she turned back to Ben, his eyes were wide with alarm. “No, you’re not actually- I’m just trying to give your father a sense of the gravity of the situation.”  
  
“Gravity?” Ben echoed weakly. Normally he had stronger retorts for the things she said, but since he was currently bleeding from a serious gash on his head, Rey couldn’t fault him for being a being confused.  
  
“Yes, Ben, gravity- Now hold still.”  
  
He _was_ losing a lot of blood. And Rey could say ‘I told you so’ and would be totally justified in doing so, because she _warned_ this bloody nerf-herder that raising his voice to the average scoundrel on Jakku never ended well for anyone, but he just _had_ to take the bait, didn’t he? He just couldn’t let insults about his mother stand, even when the idiot doing the insulting had never met Leia Organa in their lives and therefore knew _nothing_ about her worth insulting.  
  
God, but Rey still wondered if joining up with these lunatics was a good call.  
  
She might have been hungry on Jakku, but otherwise her blood pressure had been gloriously stable.  
  
She hunted through the drawers for something she could use, and idly tossed a cloth over her shoulder when she found one. “Here, for your head,” Rey called. But when she turned around to face Ben again, he was staring blankly at the cloth as it sat on his lap. Rey groaned, picked up the cloth, pressed it into Ben’s hand, and then pressed it to his head. “ _Keep it there._ Understand? Do not move your hand.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Honestly, the most alarming part of this was how compliant Ben was being. Normally Han’s son was a moody, contentious jackass of a man that insisted on arguing with everyone and everything, including but not limited to humans, aliens, droid, plants, non-sentient machines, _walls-_ anything was fair game.  
  
 _Maybe he **is** dying,_ Rey considered. Nothing else could silence Ben Solo; she wasn’t even confident that dying would manage it.  
  
Han and Chewie must have started some unusually rigorous evasive maneuvers, because suddenly she found herself slung across Ben’s lap. “ _What on earth are you two DOING?_ ” Rey bellowed, raising her head and screaming in the general direction of the hallway.  
  
“ _Keeping us alive, sweetheart!_ ” Han called back.  
  
“ _AUHGHAHAH!_ ”  
  
“ _Oh thanks, furball! I’m real glad I’ve got you backing me up!_ ”  
  
Ben’s hand settled on her back. “You okay?”  
  
Rey looked up at him. Head wounds always bled pretty badly, but now Ben had a bit of a slur to his words, his gaze was unfocused, and coupled with the confusion and the _sheer amount of blood_ currently drenching his shirt, she was definitely getting worried. “I’m fine, I’m fine, let me up.” She scrambled off his lap, cheeks pink; it wasn’t often that they touched one another.  
  
As it was, there wasn’t much she could do until the _Falcon_ stopped rattling around so much. Trying to stitch Ben’s head together when Han and Chewie kept ducking and weaving them through space would only result in a needle going through Ben’s eyelid, and Rey couldn’t take for granted that this confused agreeability would last forever (but then, maybe it would be worth the anger just to tease him about getting an unusual and edgy piercing).  
  
…No, no, not worth _that_ level of anger.  
  
Not _yet_ , anyway.  
  
The ship shook again, and Rey braced herself by grabbing the back of the seat Ben was in, digging her fingers into the old leather of the seat as the floor started to slip beneath her feet. She quickly used the other to press against Ben’s arm, keeping him from toppling out as well. “Hold on, hold on!” She ordered. But Ben was getting paler, and it seemed that he wasn’t as aware as he’d been before- and that wasn’t saying much, because he’d barely been aware of his surroundings before. When the _Falcon_ steadied again, Rey grabbed his hand and squeezed it, shook it and tried to get him to open his eyes. “Ben, come on, I need you to stay awake.”  
  
Ben’s eyes opened a sliver, but there was limited recognition in them. His hand was starting to slip from his head, and Rey suspected that the cloth was only staying because it was stuck on some of the drying blood. “Huh?”  
  
“Stay awake.” She counted, quite literally, the seconds as they ticked by; when the ship had been totally steady for more than three minutes, Rey grabbed the needle and thread and antiseptic from the drawer and quickly started to stitch up the gash. Ben groaned when the antiseptic touched the open wound, grimacing and trying to push Rey away. “No, stop that, you’ve lost too much blood already. Hold still and let me work.”  
  
He did, and though Rey was grateful, it only made her worry more.  
  
She worked quickly and efficiently. A life of scavenging had taught her the fine art of sewing up wounds fairly early, since working with metal would eventually lead to one getting a nasty cut of some kind that couldn’t be fixed by wrapping a cloth bandage around it. It wasn’t pretty, but it would stop Ben from losing anymore blood than he already had. And he’d already lost far too much.  
  
It was obvious now that they’d managed to clear whatever danger they’d been escaping. How Rey had managed to escape it without being knocked out by a flying wrench, or bashing her skull on the floor, or by Ben suddenly regaining coherency and finding her stretched out across his lap, was a mystery. She checked him briefly- he was unconscious now, breathing slowly but steadily- and then headed down the hallway towards the cockpit.  
  
“ _What_ in the _name of_ -?”  
  
She nearly bumped into Han as she rounded the corner. “How’s Ben?”  
  
“Alive, just barely,” Rey snapped. “Is this the part where I get to say ‘I told you so’? Because I seem to recall mentioning that going back to Jakku was a terrible idea. In fact, I’m quite certain I mentioned it _several_ times.”  
  
“You did,” Han said breezily, clapping her shoulder as he walked past her. “Loudly and aggressively. How was I supposed to know they would recognize us so easily?”  
  
“Because it’s only been two months since I left, and I _told you they would?_ ”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Han grumbled. His expression changed when he saw his son laid out, silent and pale. “Geez. How much blood did he lose?”  
  
“Quite a bit. I couldn’t stitch him up, you see, when the two of you were flying like a pair of maniacs.” Rey sighed, grabbing some stray strands of hair that had come lose and pushing them away from her face. “He should be alright, though. He just needs sleep for now- he also needs to not lose any more blood.” She paused. “Is this the first time he’s been injured like this?”  
  
“Occupational hazard, sweetheart,” Han remarked, kneeling down and searching a compartment under the seat until he found a thin blanket, which he draped over Ben’s sleeping form. “Smuggling is illegal by nature, and some people don’t like illegal things, so naturally we have to make quick getaways sometimes. And sometimes that results in some bumps and bruises and badly bleeding head-wounds.”  
  
“Smuggling in general, or just _your_ outfit?”  
  
“Heh heh,” Han laughed nasally, mockingly. “You know, if you and Ben got along better you’d be a great comedy team. Really wonderful sense of humor you’ve got between the pair of you.”  
  
“I suppose it’s better than the sort of humor that leads to Jabba the Hutt encasing you in carbon,” Rey remarked lightly, smirking when Han shot her a disbelieving look. “Ben and I _do_ occasionally have nice conversations.”  
  
“Oh, well, that’s just dandy. You two let me know when the wedding is.”  
  
Rey couldn’t manage a witty retort to that, and she hated that Han got the last laugh as he strolled back to the cockpit to join Chewie.  
  
Sighing, she sat down next to Ben, just on the edge of the seat where he was lying. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed that he was still breathing easily, even though blood was caked on his face, neck, and shirt. She’d have to clean that up.  
  
“You know, Ben,” Rey grumbled, bending over to root through the drawer and find a fresh cloth to work with. “If you ever feel like killing your father, just let me know. I may want in.”  
  
“‘Kay.”  
  
She started, whipping around to look at him; but Ben’s eyes were still shut. Rey shook her head, eyes rolling shut.  
  
“We are _never_ ,” She whispered, “Going back to Jakku.”  
  
-End


End file.
